Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1887-07-20
Bleached Hair.

''Bleaching the hair white is the
latest craze, : said Washington street
dealer in tonsorial supplies to a Boston
correspondent Of the Iowa State Regis
ter the other day. Nothing makes
even a young woman's face appear so
youthful as white hair, and SO it is be-
coming quite the fashion. Here is
gallon jug Of the bleaching mixture; you
zee it is labelled H2 O2-that stands for
peroxide of hydrogen. It is powerful
preparation, but when mixed for use
with % per cent. of pure spirits of
ammonia it's rapidity of action is simply
astonishing. Half a dozen applications
will turn the blacklist locks snow white
by the very simple process of annihila-
ling the coloring matter. Injurious, do
you ask? Well, rather; but that is of
noconsequence where 'sstyle" is concern
ed. ..:a~ -, =
"Until recently" continued theshop- ,
keeper, 1.-THE tint most generally fashion,
able in bleached hair was golden yellow,
but it's adoption by women of a certain
class has rendered it unpopular. If
this hue is desired, however, the most
pronounced brunette may turn her
raven tresses to light straw color by
using the peroxide ofhydrogen, without
ammonia, for a few weeks. The simple
chemical is far better for the purpose
than any of the patent washes. But
chestnut brown with vivid CLEAN of
red in it is all the rage just now. For
that there are several proprietary mix
lures on the market, any one of which
is guaranteed to produce the requisite
effect with half a dozen trials. A So
luton of champagne and soda is some
times employed to Tighten the color of
the hair, but the expensiveness of this
method is its most serious drawback.
''You wish to know what we sell for
dyeing purposes? Well, we keep at
least so different preparations in stock,
but the active principle of every one of
hem is nitrate of silver, with pyro-gal-
lie acid as an ingredient, to set the col
or. The same dye, put up in solutions
Of varying strength, serves to produce
IS many shades-black. dark brown,
light brown, chestnut, light chestnut,
irab, light brab, etc. No, these lotions
for the hair do not cause it to fall out,
so far as know, but the acids and
chemicals they contain wither the cap
Hilary tubes, as any other vegetable is
shrivelled by burning.
'Women who bleach their hair find
their chief aff1iction in the variations of
tint caused by the necessarily frequent
applications of the wash, with which
the fresh growth close to the scalp must
be treated Inasmuch as one cannot
avoid getting some of the bleaching
mixture where it is not required the
result is a series of shade streaks. light
er toward the end and darker toward
the root. When this effect is at length
achieved the victim usually hewails her
folly and wishes with all her heart that
she could change her hair to its origin
al color again. To accomplish this, .
however. she must shave it all off and
wear a wig for a year.
'You may form somo notion of the
strength of the hydrogen peroxide I
spoke of when I tell you this was the
stuff by means of which Barnum turned
black elephant into a white one, to
make fun of Forepaugh's imitation Of
the great original from SIAM"